Archive: Around Town

Lynn Perry Wooten, senior associate dean for academic and student excellence at the University of Michigan, has been named David J. Nolan Dean of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

Wooten, also clinical professor of strategy, management and organizations at Michigan's Ross School of Business, will begin her appointment at Cornell on July 1. She succeeds Edward McLaughlin, the Robert G. Tobin Professor of Marketing, who has served as interim dean of the Dyson School since June 21, 2016.

The Dyson School is shared between the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Wooten will report to both Soumitra Dutta, dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Also on July 1, Wooten's husband, David Wooten, will begin a dual appointment as professor of marketing at the Dyson School and associate dean for diversity and inclusion at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

"For a while, I have been fond of Ezra Cornell's ethos of 'any person ... any study,' and now I have the honor to live this ethos by serving as dean of the Dyson School," Lynn Wooten said. "I am looking forward to working with Dyson's faculty, staff and students, and excited about how at Dyson, education and research focus on business as a vehicle for making the world a better place."

Dutta expressed the college's enthusiasm and praised Wooten's credentials.

"We are very excited to welcome Lynn to Cornell as we seek to further advance the excellence and reputation of the Dyson School at this pivotal moment in the history of the SC Johnson College of Business," Dutta said. "Lynn brings a strong background in business education, and is a proven leader in academic administration."

Boor echoed Dutta's sentiments.

"Lynn's deep passion for student success will only enhance the quality of the Dyson School experience," she said. "Her leadership and creativity in the field of undergraduate business education make her the right choice for this role."

Wooten received her bachelor's in accounting in 1988 from North Carolina A&T University, her MBA in 1990 from Duke University and her doctorate in business administration in 1995 from the University of Michigan's Ross School.

Upon completion of her doctorate, Wooten spent three years as assistant professor of management at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business. She returned to Michigan in 1998 and has served in numerous roles over the last 19 years, including co-faculty director of the Center for Positive Organizations (2008 to 2011) and the Executive Leadership Institute (2011 to present).

She was named associate dean of undergraduate programs in 2011 and served in that capacity until 2016, when she was named to her current position.

Wooten teaches corporate strategy, knowledge management, organizational behavior and consulting courses. Her research interests include crisis leadership, positive organizing routines, strategic human resource management, and workforce diversity and competitive advantage.

She has authored or co-authored 28 scholarly articles, including a 2016 research briefing, "Creating an organization of leaders: A positively deviant approach," which appeared in the journal Progress in Pediatrics. She is also co-author of the book, "Leading Under Pressure: From Surviving to Thriving Before, During and After a Crisis" (2010).

Wooten has served on the Work/Life Executive Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is an active member in a number of national volunteer leadership organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Jack & Jill of America.

This year, she received her certificate in advanced education leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Lynn and David Wooten have two children – Justin '17, a student in the Hotel School, and 14-year-old daughter, Jada.

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